Tag: stickers

Whenever I can I take the opportunityto interview someone from the online world. They could be someone creative, quirky, geeky or a fellow spoonie. I’m really not picky; the whole point of this is to open up dialogue, share with the world and if you wish, bring awareness to your work or a cause. Interviews are open to anyone who wishes to take part so if you’re interested in volunteering please check out the Interview information page.

This time Mija has voluntered to talk about her work as designer for the site Mind-Speaks.com, a site she runs with her two sisters. Read on to find out how she became a designer and what she brings to the sister’s creative blog.

The Interview

Hi. Please tell us a bit about yourself!My name is Mija and I am a 1 out of 3 sisters on Mind-Speaks.com! We all have different disciplines but I work on all things print and web for the site. Right now my favorite things are stickers and stationery.

How did you get into design?I went to school for design and work as a full-time designer. Mind-Speaks.com lets me play and do fun projects I personally love!!

How many years have you been doing it?I have been a designer for over 10 years. We started Mind-Speaks.com in 2010!

What does your design mean to you?
Doing designs for Mind-Speaks helps me really express what I like. I do designs that reflect my fandoms and hobbies! I also do freelance and design for other people. So when I design for Mind-Speaks, it’s truly for myself. I try to make things that I would use personally in my life!

What was the first time you realized that was what you wanted to do?
Probably in 6th grade, we got our first family pc – it was loaded with HP Print Shop. I would play all day on there designing greeting cards to send to family! Each one had A VERA CARD, printed on the back!!

I also grew up a huge fan of Lisa Frank, I collected stationery and stickers like most girls in the early 90s. That stationery influenced me even as a young girl!

What is your proudest moment?
We recently through an Usagi Birthday Bash! Probably one of my favorite things we have done! We got to meet new people who love Sailor Moon as much as we do AND give away tons of stickers and jewelry!

What was the first product/artwork you ever sold?Oh, on Mind-Speaks.com it would probably be my Sailor Moon 3DS cases!!! I might actually bring them back! Right now I am designing stickers and stationery sets on our Etsy.

What are your goals for the future? What do you hope to achieve?
To try to do more events, perhaps buy a table at an artist alley at a local con and join like-minded nerds!

What was the best advice you were ever given?
Stop when it is no longer fun.

Any advice for others wanting to get into design?
You have to think of the design of just more than art onto paper or web, textiles and tangible items also need to be considered! Especially if you are rebranding yourself! You have to also think about everything: fonts, colors, packaging….everything is representing yourself!

Now for some random questions…

If you were the god/goddess of anything, what would it be?
I would love to be a goddess of stationery! I love stationery more than any other paper items. I probably get way too excited when I see an amazing lined envelope!

What would your animal form be?
Oh, I hope it would be a bird. Flying would be amazing and a cooler way of traveling than running around everywhere!

Do you have any fun quirks?
I am a tad OCD, especially with color! Everything always has to be organized or lined up by color. I also love matching sets, so I tend to go overboard when wanting to add so many items into my stationery sets I design! If I see things in my favorite color, I tend to gravitate to it and hope they are also in my sisters’ favorite colors so I can also pick them up one. Especially stationery or washi tape!

Do you collect anything?
I have a nice comic book collection that I share with my husband, we also have action figures to match the comics we have been collecting! My craft area is filled with so many different shades and thickness of paper. also, have a nice vinyl collection of vintage showtunes albums! I bet that last one is random!!!

And finally; time for a shameless plug:
I would love you guys to check Mind-Speaks.com, my craft blog I share with my sisters. We post projects we are working on, DIY instructions, recipes and reviews on local nerd hangouts around Houston, TX. We also sell some stickers, stationery sets and other cutesy items! You can find us on Instagram under: mind__speaks and Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MindSpeaks

I took a break last weekend as I was still polishing off the new blog theme and features, so this week I wanted to make a special Sharing Saturday. So I decided to get personal. As a part of Holiday Wishes I had offered to fulfil some wishes by promoting their etsy stores. I absolutely love etsy, there is always something for everyone and being an oddball geek I don’t tend to find ‘my style’ in main shops, so etsy is wonderful for finding things that are really me. I also admire people who are able to create, and put their work out there for others to buy. That takes tremendous courage, and I wanted to share the love so I put the call out on twitter. The result is this blog post which includes a variety of etsy stores by small business owners, many of which are also bloggers. There’s a great variety in here, some very cute and gorgeous products and I hope you take the time to go check out their stores fully! ((All images are credited to the etsy stores and their owners. If you would like any removed please contact me. Image featured in the header is from PhoenixFireDesigns. ))

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who tweeted me, shared my tweets and pointed me in the direction of these great stores. I’ll be doing another one of these in the future so if you missed out, follow me on twitter @JustGeekingBy and tweet me your etsy store for future reference 🙂

I’ve always been a fan of tattoos and the tattoo style of art, and in ATinyMew’s store you can find some gorgeous prints up for grabs in that style. Bold designs and vibrant colours, I love the details on the smaller elements of her designs such as the pearls. There’s also a print (featured center) that is dedicated to spreading awareness of stomach cancer. While I’ve not lost anyone to that particular cancer, I’ve lost people to the horrible disease and admire anyone who takes the time to create something to spread awareness.

This store is run by the lovely Jemma of Dorkface, and the creator of The Girl Gang. Not only is she a wonderful girl and super supportive to others, she’s a talented illustrator to boot! This is just a small glimpse at what she’s got hiding in her DorkfaceShop. I’m completely in love with her stickers, such as these pretty banner stickers which are perfect for bullet journals and planners!

An etsy store that aims to provide “Vintage and handmade awesomeness”, imperfectly’s store has a wide array of goodies for visitors. There are vintage items such as clothing, rings and manuals and some great accessories like these hemp bracelets and necklace. I also love her upcycled/recycled envelopes seen in the third image.

If you love disney then itslizi is one for you! She has a range of disney products, however, it is these three that caught my eye. They’re all outside the box and a bit quirky, and being a Londoner by birth I love the London Transport/Disney places prints. The Mickey Mouse confetti is cute and unique, and so it this Minnie Mouse sunglasses print.

Kokoba’s store is filled to the brim with maths, science and number based jewellery perfect for the geeks in your life. As a Pagan and an arts grad, I’m admittedly drawn to the range of gemstones and designs rather than the mathematics. Science geeks will appreciate the time and effort put into each design Kokoba helpfully offers a full explanation over on her blog about how she uses numbers in her jewellery. Among the number work there’s also some beautiful DNA sequence designs as you can see in the first image.

These beautiful handmade cowls can be found in kriknitslakeside’s store in a range of wonderful colours and patterns. She makes scarves as well, and everything looks super snuggly and warm! I really love the range of colour combinations and there’s one for everyone’s tastes.

Next up is blogger Hello Lizzie Bee who has an etsy store dedicated to fabulous handlettered and illustrated prints. It was difficult to pick just three to showcase here for you, but I was blown away by these ones. The lovely illustrated quote “Always be yourself unless you can be a unicorn”, simple and beautiful calligraphy congratulations card and this cleverly detailed inspirational quote.

How adorable is this crocheted elephant?! Bridget the elephant is just one of the handmade wonders in Lizzievintage’s shop (there’s also a panda called Fiona for any panda fans!). There’s a bunch more crocheted items like the cute headwraps, as well as bags and cushions including a range of comic book ones like the Avengers once featured above.

These incredible necklaces and pendants are the work of PhoenixFireDesigns and her store features a range of different colour and style combinations. Her Tree of Life pendants (2nd and 3rd images) appear to be the most sought over of her designs, however, I wanted to include her other work here too to show you guys what else she makes. The first image is one of these and is her mermaid cluster necklace. There’s chakra items, steampunk designs and so much more in her store. I could seriously do a whole blog post just dedicated to her beautiful work. Best of all those aren’t coloured beads; they’re real gemstones and there are so many different ones to choose from! I also follow her instagram where she gives you regular updates on what she’s making, including commission pieces.

These embroidered beauties are the work of beauty blogger BubblyBeauty. Her etsy store is a gold mine of embroidery and framed cross stitch, including this super cute halloween kitty. Her pouches and make up bags are idea for anything, and there’s so many different designs that there’s one for everyone!

Using sea glass and pottery, SeaKissedTreasures combines them with wire and satin knot cord to create these pretty and unique pendants. Her shop offers treasures made by the sea and that is certainly the vibe I’m getting from these pieces. Each one is a unique and idea as a special gift for someone or to yourself!

Home to the creations of the talented Tarnya of Sweet Allure, this store is home to cute watercolour prints. There’s inspiration quotes as featured above and some lovely fandom related ones like this Bambi print and Ravenclaw Crest from Harry Potter. They’re colourful with a unique and personal touch, and would look fab on anyone’s wall.

Probably the smallest shop on the list, but don’t let that deceive you. Small doesn’t mean bad when there’s some great products to check out! WyldeDesign’s store is all about digital and printable content, offering a range of items that you pay once and can then use over and over. There’s some great planner printables like this daily planner one, as well as some detailed prints and this super cute Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them phone wallpaper. It’s a small eclectic store which can only grow into something more amazing than it already is.

And that brings us to the end of this weeks Sharing Saturday! I hope you have had as much fun browsing these stores as I did, and I make no apologies for any holes that might be burning in your wallets now 😛 These are all talented individuals that you can support by buying their work, sharing their stores and using the ‘favourite’ option on etsy.